Buckingham Palace wing to open to visitors
- Published
- Image source, Peter Smith/Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024
Image caption, The Principal Corridor runs the length of the East Wing
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Buckingham Palace's newly reserviced East Wing will open to visitors for the first time this summer.
Special guided tours of the Principal Floor will run throughout July and August.
The East Wing includes the palace's front façade and central balcony, where the monarch and members of the Royal Family have gathered for public appearances since 1851.
It follows more than five years of improvement works.
Small groups of visitors will be able to visit rooms and spaces including the Principal Corridor, which runs the length of the wing.
Paintings by artists including Thomas Gainsborough are displayed along the corridor.
The East Wing was first occupied by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children. It is still used by the Royal Family for official meetings and events.
Architect Edward Blore was commissioned to draw up plans for alterations to Buckingham Palace by Queen Victoria in order to accommodate her growing family.
Between 1847 and 1849, the East Wing was added. It enclosed what was previously an open, horseshoe-shaped courtyard.
Chinese-themed décor
The build of the East Wing was financed through the sale of the Royal Pavilion, George IV’s seaside retreat in Brighton, in 1850.
The Pavilion's interior reflected the King's love of Asian art and design, and its contents, including ceramics and furniture, were moved to the East Wing.
They inspired the Chinese-themed décor in Buckingham Palace's principal rooms.
The Yellow Drawing Room has been decorated with recently restored Chinese hand-painted wallpaper from the 18th Century.
It also features two hexagonal, nine-tiered Chinese porcelain pagodas and the Kylin Clock, which incorporates two turquoise Chinese lions.
Tours will conclude in the Centre Room which is home to a newly restored glass chandelier shaped to resemble a lotus flower, and two Chinese 18th Century silk wall hangings, presented to Queen Victoria for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
The tours will run daily from 15 July. Booking opens from 10 April.
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- Published20 January 2016
